MSE Parent Club - Part 2

ladybirdintheuk

cool Being an auntie rocks

I have a feeling we will end up with all the annoying noisy toys we got for our nephew making their way back to us though they will get their own back!

r.mac_2

Hiya - I've finally made it in here! I'm pretty exhausted to be honest, and as much as I love being a mummy, it's really hard work isn't it?!

I'm BFing and although no latching on problems, due to my milk taking three weeks to come in properly we are on formula top ups. Not my ideal situation but she's healthy and i'm working on increasing my supply so we can go BF only at some point. Annabel has no probs distinguishing between breast and bottle so hopefully we'll keep an expressed feed in our routine.

routine - not something we have at the moment - someone please tell me that this will get better as she gets bigger!!!! Oh and she is 6 weeks old today She's not a big fan of sleeping, but having a nap right now - what bliss.

3onitsway

r.mac wrote: »

Hiya - I've finally made it in here! I'm pretty exhausted to be honest, and as much as I love being a mummy, it's really hard work isn't it?!

I'm BFing and although no latching on problems, due to my milk taking three weeks to come in properly we are on formula top ups. Not my ideal situation but she's healthy and i'm working on increasing my supply so we can go BF only at some point. Annabel has no probs distinguishing between breast and bottle so hopefully we'll keep an expressed feed in our routine.

routine - not something we have at the moment - someone please tell me that this will get better as she gets bigger!!!! Oh and she is 6 weeks old today She's not a big fan of sleeping, but having a nap right now - what bliss.

Hi R.Mac - glad to see you've made it over to the other side!

How are you feeling? Zombified and incredibly tired like me?

Violet is 6 weeks tomorrow - and we've still got no sort of routine! The first couple of weeks she was asleep for most of the day, and awake for most of the night! Now, she's all over the place. Slept most of yesterday, awake ever two hours last night, had a little nap this morning for about half an hour, then awake for 3 hours, now having another little nap.

I'm not sure whether I should try and get her into a routine - or wait for her to decide what her routine should be.

Welshlassie

At around 5-6 weeks old I started to note down exactly what Rhys was doing over a 24 hour period and after a few days I noticed he did have a routine, (Although it didn't feel like it). (I didn't actually do it to find a routine I did it to see how long and often he was feeding for as we had a few problems, but it served another purpose as well).

We then tried to "taylor" it to suit what I wanted more and after a week or so it definately improved to the point we was sleeping for around 6 hours in a stretch at night, so to make the most of this time I'd got to bed at the same time as him and catch up on sleep and gradually it got longer and I could stay up later. He was never a great napper in the day, but because I knew vaugely when he would sleep it meant I could get some bits and pieces done.

You will get there. Oh and congratulations to you both on your new arrivals.

r.mac_2

hi 3onitsway

the HV said baby will find her own routine from about 6-7 wks onwards. Annabel is getting there slowly, although everyday is slightly different. We seem to find that she is active all evening either playing with us or feeding and drops off with a feed about 11pm. she'll sleep roughly to between 3am-5am and get up for a feed (I feed her sitting up in bed with the lights off) and put her back down and she'll sleep to between 7-8am. I'm happy with that for the moment. During the day she gernerally has a nap in the afternoon for about 3 hours, sometimes she sleeps during the morning, sometimes not, but saying that she had to have a bath due to a leaky nappy about 11am today and has been in bed sleeping for about an hour and a half now.

she's decided her routine herself - and just as we think we understand it she changes it!!!! for example she didn't sleep at all during the day yesterday :eek:

zombified is definately the word to describe it - I have no idea how anyone could do this and have other children as well :eek:

r.mac_2

Welshlassie wrote: »

At around 5-6 weeks old I started to note down exactly what Rhys was doing over a 24 hour period and after a few days I noticed he did have a routine, (Although it didn't feel like it). (I didn't actually do it to find a routine I did it to see how long and often he was feeding for as we had a few problems, but it served another purpose as well).

We then tried to "taylor" it to suit what I wanted more and after a week or so it definately improved to the point we was sleeping for around 6 hours in a stretch at night, so to make the most of this time I'd got to bed at the same time as him and catch up on sleep and gradually it got longer and I could stay up later. He was never a great napper in the day, but because I knew vaugely when he would sleep it meant I could get some bits and pieces done.

You will get there. Oh and congratulations to you both on your new arrivals.

That's a good tip - I didn't think Annabel had any routine until I analysed it like you did. I go to bed when she does when I can too.

although I use the word analyse loosely - my brain doesn't seem to be able to function that well. My pg brain hasn't gone away yet and my tiredness exacerbates it. Holding a conversation can be tricky depending on when/what time of day you try and catch me

3onitsway

Its a trick that nature plays on mums - in a few months time, you'll forget the zombified feeling, and the labour and birth, and you'll only remember that cute little baby and all the lovely bits! That will trick you into having another - otherwise people would only ever have one! :rotfl:

The worst bit i'm finding is that her most awake time is from about 4 in the afternoon - exactly when the other two are home from school and want feeding and attention, and OH is still at work! She stays awake then until about 10 - when I take her up for a quiet feed - but she'll only sleep until between 12 and 1 usually. (Then 3ish, then 6ish). I'm keeping the nightime feeds nice and quiet, and dark so she'll learn the difference between day and night (i'm hoping).

Thanks WELSHLASSIE - i might try and write down exactly what she's doing and might be able to recognise some sort of routine.

Funny thing is, everytime MIL has seen her, mostly only weekends as she works all week, Violet has slept through each visit! MIL thinks she never wakes up, or she hears its Nanny visiting and pretends to be asleep til she's gone!:rotfl:

r.mac_2

Annabel did that to my MIL as well - the day she brought the video camera round! I think Annabel picked up on my "oh no - not the MIL" vibes!!!

I'm sure we'll get there. xxx

We have good days and bad days - todays a good day, but can you tell I'm a bit down - sorry!

Savvy_Sue

nadnad wrote: »

Does anyone else feel that they give their children A LOT of painkillers?! I feel like theres rarely a week goes by were he hasnt had something.

I didn't, particularly, but the lady in the chemist obviously did when I tried to buy more than one bottle of paracetamol at a time, and explained that if all 3 needed a dose more than once over the week, 100 ml wasn't going to go very far! She called out to the pharmacist "It's that lady with all the children." I've only ever had 3 ... :rotfl:

Curious_George_2

3onitsway wrote: »

I'm keeping the nightime feeds nice and quiet, and dark so she'll learn the difference between day and night (i'm hoping).

this is a really good plan,
i made sure dannys night feeds were very different to the day ones, i always did it in the dimmest light possible, all done very quickly and quietly, I didnt really make any fuss of him or speak to him more than nessesary, and as soon as he was done it was back in bed, lights off and if i had to resettle i didnt speak to him at all...
it sounds harsh but it told him quite quickly there was no fun to be had from being up in the night, and once he started almost dropping that night feed i would only offer him water in his cot when he woke, he didnt like it at all and decided it wasnt worth waking in the night altogether...
other than the occasional blip he has been sleeping through since about 6 weeks old, i did the same with my DD when she was a babe and got the same result so all i can say is either this method works or ive been VERY lucky! lol